By John Fay
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Jack McKeon and Ken Griffey Jr. say they are OK with each other. McKeon's relationship with Griffey became an issue Tuesday night after McKeon, the Florida Marlins manager, intentionally walked Sean Casey to get to Griffey.

Griffey, who played for McKeon when he was the Reds' manager, stared into the Marlins' dugout after hitting a three-run homer that led to the Reds' 5-2 win.

"I wasn't looking in there," Griffey said. "I was looking in the stands."

Believe that if you will.

Josh Beckett, who served up the home run ball, didn't.

"That's bull," Beckett said. "That's what it is. I don't care if he is a Hall of Famer. I don't think I'll forget it."

Someone asked Griffey if he was ready to duck at the plate Wednesday.

"Are they?" he said. "It goes both ways. I think it's over and done with. But they better ask about certain things that happened here before."

When Griffey was hit by a pitch in Colorado in July of 2000 by Stan Belinda., Scott Sullivan responded by hitting Brian Hunter with a pitch in the bottom of the inning. It led to a bench-clearing brawl and suspensions of Sullivan and Hunter.

The Reds' current pitching staff would react along the same lines.

"If they hit our guys, we'll retaliate," said Cincinnati reliever Todd Jones. "I hope it doesn't come to that. It doesn't accomplish anything. This was between Jack McKeon and Ken Griffey. I hope Josh just got caught up in the moment. He's a good guy. But you don't want to go down that road."

Griffey thinks what he did was blown out of proportion. When ESPN replayed his home run trot, they slowed it down enough that it looked as if Griffey were glaring into the dugout for a long second. On full-speed replays, the stare becomes more of a glance.

Stare or glance, in the context of today's baseball, Griffey said, it wasn't a big deal.

"What about a pitcher who pumps his fist after a strikeout?" Griffey said. "I didn't gesture. I didn't show any emotion. I didn't point."

Still, with one game left in this series and three more next week in Miami, you wonder if the incident is over.

McKeon and Griffey said they are ready to move on.

They say they have no problem with each other, though they didn't meet or make up before Wednesday's game. Don't look for that to happen; Griffey hasn't spoken to McKeon since he managed the Reds and has no plan to do so.

"He's going to believe what he wants," Griffey said of McKeon. "I never said anything about him."

Said McKeon: "I don't have any problem with either of them (Griffey or Reds shortstop Barry Larkin)."

McKeon has told people since he was fired by the Reds after the 2000 season that he thought Griffey and Larkin had something to do with it.

Griffey strongly denied that.

"I'm getting blamed for something I didn't do," Griffey said.

Whatever the history is, walking Reds first baseman Sean Casey to get to Griffey does get Griffey's adrenaline flowing.

"It would for anybody," he said. "I was fortunate enough to hit the ball out of the ballpark."

McKeon said his move had nothing to do with personal feelings.

"It was strategy," he said. "There's a better chance to strike him out. Casey had 15 or 16 strikeouts; Griffey had 36 or 37. Odds are in you favor.

"I recognize and respect (Griffey's) talent. It's not easy to walk someone to get to him."

E-mail jfay@enquirer.com